3-year-old boy dies after being hit by car driven by father

A three-year-old boy died after he was hit by a car driven by his father in Kamaishi, Iwate Prefecture.

According to police, the accident occurred at around 10:45 a.m. Saturday. Sho Sato told police he had been out driving with his son Yutaka, Fuji TV reported. When they arrived home, Yutaka got out of the car. As he was about to park the car, Sato said he hit his son who had apparently gone ahead of the car.

Yutaka was taken to hospital with severe head injuries and died about an hour later.

Nov. 19, 2018
02:01 pm JST

Nov. 19, 2018
10:38 am JST

“Common sense says you do not let your 3 year old out of your vehicle until you've parked!”

Except that in Japan the garages or parking spaces are often so narrow that drivers let the passengers out before parking the car. It goes without saying though that location of such passengers should be confirmed before moving the car again.

Nov. 19, 2018
09:24 am JST

Nov. 19, 2018
09:12 am JST

I can probably assume that the child was in the back seat and not properly restrained as is the common practice here. Therefore allowing the child to freely exit the car while the "unaware" father continued to park.

Nov. 19, 2018
07:03 am JST

Nov. 18, 2018
10:38 pm JST

Nov. 18, 2018
07:38 pm JST

I’m not even going to read the article and just guess either the kid was waiting outside while the car pulled out and dad didn’t see him, or the kid and family got out while dad was pulling into the drive way and dad didn’t see him. Either way, this has become a near-daily occurrence that has GOT to stop! Get in the car before pulling out, or after pulling in and shutting the car off. RIP to the boy, and a horrible way for the parents to learn a little common sense.

Nov. 18, 2018
05:25 pm JST

Common sense says you do not let your 3 year old out of your vehicle until you've parked! Sitting here in a car park outside a store, and I'm disgusted just how many parents walk to their cars, kids 10 feet behind them!

Nov. 18, 2018
05:14 pm JST

Very sad to hear......... AGAIN!!!!!!

What’s going on!!! Aren’t people reading/hearing the news and being more careful???

if it’s in JT, it’s surely in the local media. The technology is available to deal with such situations and looks like it needs to be made mandatory before the next kid gets hurt. I won’t be surprised if it was a family car. These have huge blind sectors.

Nov. 18, 2018
05:13 pm JST

Why do they not teach basic parenting in Japan?

They do. When both my kids were born the local city hall and ward office had ママの教室, which taught basic parenting. Talking to my friends overseas it seems such programs are not always available in other countries. Japan is quite forward and social in this regard.